


Escape

by withinmelove



Category: Fall Out Boy, The Youngblood Chronicles (Music Video)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Character Death, Crossover, F/M, Heavy Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-07
Updated: 2016-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-12 08:52:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5660350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withinmelove/pseuds/withinmelove
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Young Blood videos looked at the hell Fall Out Boy suffered during their kidnapping. But what about the women who were their tormentors? No one told their side of what happened. </p><p>A look at the Young Blood operation through the eyes of Lakshmi.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Escape

**Author's Note:**

> Lakshmi's face: http://fav.me/d2c40c4  
> Miss Jackson's face: http://fav.me/d5nirzo

\---- 

_“Please, Miss Jackson.”_

There was no childish use of ‘mama’ as Miss Jackson detested being called by such a name. And certainly not in the face of what Lakshmi was begging for. 

“Please you _must_ let Brendon live. He has been a good target for us and it would be beneficial to use him to befriend others. You must see that,” she begged her mother quietly, blackberry lips sealed as she gazed at her. Nervously, Lakshmi pulled her hair over her shoulder, braiding the waist length mane as she waited for Miss Jackson’s response. A disapproving furrow creased her mother’s forehead at the nervous habit - how would she ever be intimidating if she was always fiddling with her hair like that? But Lakshmi did not care to stop. She needed to know now if Brendon was going to live. 

A sigh issued from Miss Jackson before she gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “I will think on it,” was the answer, and though Lakshmi wanted to demand more than that, she knew not to push Miss Jackson. Her mother scorned excess begging so Lakshmi had to grit her teeth and leave as told. 

\--- 

“It isn’t fair, Radha!” Lakshmi complained to her older sister. “You get to keep _your_ pet targets whenever you choose, but Miss Jackson has to think about whether I’m allowed to keep one.” 

“She wants you safe, Lakshmi -” 

“Only until I’m old enough to barter and use my sex, then I’ll be allowed to keep my own targets.” She snapped back, a flush darkening her tawny complexion, hooded eyes hot with accusation from where she glared at Radha in the vanity mirror. Radha sighed through her nose as she shook her head, finishing the low-slung braid with a canary yellow ribbon. 

“Lakshmi, we don’t keep the targets for long. Even if we hold onto them, you know it’s only for few days regardless of how we _barter_. And I think you will be happy regardless of this Brendon. Kali has informed me you’re going to be with us for our new captives,” Radha said, fondness softening her kohl lined eyes at Lakshmi’s shocked face. 

“She located the suitcase?” 

She nodded, pleased at her reaction. 

“The very one.” 

\----- 

The preparations needed for retrieving both the suitcase and the men gave Lakshmi no time to go to Brendon or her mother to plead her case. She was the driver for all the abductions, which meant two weeks spent practicing with the van, as well as being the one to ready the dining chamber with food and supplies for the revel. 

Radha came with Lakshmi to help grocery shop for the upcoming events. Of course they were discreet in their comings and goings. All four of them lived at the hideout but that didn’t mean they announced their location. Even hidden in plain sight severe measures were needed to keep them safe. Inhabiting an “abandoned” hospital on the edge of town carried risks no matter the money paid to keep off the radar. 

On this occasion, so great was the festive air that Miss Jackson gave permission for the sisters to help with the preparations. Once returned from the grocery store the others swarmed the van to help bring in the food. Lakshmi couldn’t stop the laughter and smiles on her face as they all trooped into the kitchen. In her anguish over Brendon she had put distance between not only Miss Jackson and Kali, but her other siblings as well. She realized how much she had missed them. Her sisters, for their part, seem so pleased to have her returned to the fold that they treat her as they always had. Even Kali did not throw barbs, instead keeping herself busy with peeling apples for the pies. 

“What was it like with your target?” Tara, one of the youngest at twenty, murmured from Lakshmi’s right side where she was washing the dishes. What could she say to please Tara? Nothing on the tip of her tongue was suitable not if she wanted to avoid the electric chair. 

“He was like a ragdoll with all the drugs the Surgeons put in him, very quiet, malleable,” she answered, keeping her eyes focused on chopping the peeled potatoes. Tara nodded, though Lakshmi knew she had not satisfied her. No one tried to throw away their life for a drugged up target. She was glad when Kali joined Tara with the dishes drying and ferrying them into the cabinets. 

\-- 

Miss Jackson came to Lakshmi while she was polishing the ironwood dining table, thoughts soothed into a lull by the mindless work. 

“Lakshmi,” She looked up from her scrubbing, surprised to see her mother, uneasy at the sight of the two nurses who flanked her sides. It never boded well when they left the hospital wing, “I have decided Brendon’s best use will not be with other targets. He would only provoke an escape attempt so I have given him to the Surgeons instead.” 

For a moment Lakshmi sagged against the table. Targets given to the Surgeons were devoured and _now_ she understood the presence of the nurses. They were going to force to watch her love be subjected to the same treatment. 

“How could you?!” Lakshmi screaming as she surged to her feet, fighting the nurses’ grasp. Her mother unmoved, watching the display. Miss Jackson had planned this. 

\- - - 

“Don’t touch him!” Lakshmi snarled as she fought against the nurses. She wanted to rip apart the Surgeons prodding the unconscious form of Brendon upon the operating table. “Brendon!” She screamed as they put the oxygen mask on him. His death was imminent. Again, she screamed for him, heart twisting when he awoke. 

“Lakshmi?!” 

“Brendon, fight!” She ordered as she struggled against the swarm of nurses who had begun to drag her towards the exit. This was meant to be her punishment, not a chance to incite further rebellion. However even as Brendon managed an upright position the Surgeons seemed to multiply as they worked to push him onto his back 

“Lakshmi, help!” The terror turned his voice shrill as wide straps across his body pinned him to the bed. A scream escaped her throat as she pried herself from the nurses to throw herself over Brendon, babbling frantic reassurances even as she saw that he was fading from the sedative they had injected. Lakshmi sobbed his name as she clutched at his weak hands, the nurses’ claws already digging into her skin and sarong. The feeling of glass sliding into her skin told her that they had sedated her as well. 

For her insubordination, Lakshmi went to the punishment chair. No relief followed even when hours later she still could not feel her hands or feet properly. The physical numbness from the electricity had not soothed her aching loss. 

\- - - 

“Lakshmi!” Kali barked, breaking her thoughts and startling her with the realization that Patrick was half on his feet, bent double from his wrists that were bound to the screwed down chair. Lakshmi yanked at his gag forcing him to fall back hard into his seat with a grunt. “Pay attention!” Kali ordered as her fingers wandered over the surgical tools upon the tray. “You’re becoming sloppy. Miss Jackson has noticed.” 

“You need not remind me,” she muttered. It infuriated Lakshmi that her twin never ceased to pinch this particular boil of trouble. All her twin could speak about were the ways in which she was a disappointment to their mother. 

“Then why aren’t you focused?” Kali demanded as she without bothering to watch as she hacked the tailored butcher knife through Patrick’s wrist. His screams bounced off the tiled walls as he convulsed in his agony, then turned his head to vomit onto the floor and suitcase. Kali’s face curdled in disgust, her golden nose ring flashing in the light. “I thought I told you not to feed him!” She pressed her lips into a tight line, then she backhanded Patrick hard on the mouth. He dry heaved into his lap from the pain. 

“Stop it! Hitting him will do nothing!” Lakshmi snapped as she knelt down to check that he was still conscious. Her fingertips caressed his face. The skin around his eyes was purple and swollen to near slits, tear tracks in the blood. His thin pretty pink lips were bitten ragged. By now he did not fight off her touch and Lakshmi pretended it was because he took comfort from her rather than his blood loss. Nevertheless, the pretending did nothing to remove the hostility crackling on her skin. 

“Don’t fix him up. If you do I _will_ know,” she ordered before she grabbed the suitcase, uncaring of the vomit, stiletto heels clicking on the concrete as she went to call Radha. Lakshmi waited a moment for her twin’s footfalls to fade before she patted his face to wake him from his faint. If she could not wash him properly, the water she had squirreled away would at least give him some measure of comfort. Tenderness squeezed her heart when Patrick awoke and whimpered at her proximity. He was too weak to even beg aloud anymore. 

She gripped his left wrist and quick as a bee sting stuck the needle into the crease of his elbow and pushed the plunger down. A mingled sob and cry of pain escaped him as the barbiturate flowed through his system. He didn’t understand but it would help ease the playing that was to come. 

\- - - 

It was while Lakshmi and Kali waited in the van for Radha to grab Pete that Lakshmi asked what the point of having the men. If Patrick had been the one in possession of what they wanted what use were the others? Kali raised her eyebrows in mock surprise at hearing this. 

“Miss Jackson didn’t inform you? They’re rewards for finding the suitcase.” 

“But what is in the suitcase? Radha hasn’t told me anything.” At this Kali shrugged as she fixed her hair into a bun. 

“If Miss Jackson hasn’t told you then neither will I.” Lakshmi worked her tightening jaw. She wanted to be a part of this mission and yet Miss Jackson, and her sisters by extension, kept her in the dark for reasons they would not reveal. 

The murmur of Radha’s voice in Kali’s earpiece alerted them that Pete was sedated and ready to move. Lakshmi started the van wondering what the suitcase contained that caused Miss Jackson to give license to such a sumptuous celebration. 

\--- 

It took all three of them to herd Pete, Joe, and Andy, bound and blindfolded from the van into their underground home, crowding into the elevator before directing them towards the dining chamber. Lakshmi grinned as the men ran into the walls; insects crazed into a panic by their touch. 

It was a personal annoyance for her to see that the dining chamber still had dust along the walls for there had not been time to finish. What with Miss Jackson’s announcement concerning Brendon and the following days really it was an achievement she managed to clean off the table and chairs. The chandelier with its tear drops of glass added elegance to the rarely used room. It was a waste that they did not use this as much as they could. And truth be told, Brendon aside, she missed this violent struggle with targets. She had grown up learning this torturer’s life and could not deny she enjoyed the struggle. 

Seconds later, Andy managed to twist out of her grasp and close his hands blindly around her throat. A choked off yelp sprang from Lakshmi as she jerked backwards and toppled to the floor her legs tangled in the folds of her olive green sarong. The unexpected fall and his bound wrists jarred Andy’s grip, giving Kali the needed second to sink her hand into his hair and pull him onto his knees, then to his feet. 

“I’ll get him, help Radha.” Kali’s voice was irritated that, by her standards, Lakshmi was not taking this serious enough. The temptation was too great and Lakshmi laughed at her twin before she went over to where Pete was struggling in his chair. 

“Be still Pete you’ll be out soon anyways,” she clucked as Radha finished with the rope around his chest. Lakshmi giggled upon catching a look at Pete’s blindfold. The surprisingly detailed golden flowers on it complimented his coal black hair. Radha had always enjoyed dressing their targets up in her creations. Her own dolls to dress as she pleased with no power to deny her whims. At times, Lakshmi had wondered what Radha could have done with her talent with needle and thread. However, there was no use in pondering for there was no way out of this life but through death.  
“You’ll spoil him with your gifts Radha; he’ll feel beautiful no matter how much we play.”  
Her sister smiled in smug amusement, combing her fingers through his dense hair. 

“This was his favorite blindfold to use when we were together. I always made sure my work complimented his tattoos,” At this Lakshmi could not resist and pulled down the neck of his shirt to see a rope of gray thorns inked around his collarbone. Radha grinned as she cupped his jaw. He jerked away from her touch “He was even more lovely naked.” She teased though further giggling was silenced at Kali’s order to hook up the men. 

Upon this return to business, Lakshmi noticed for the first time how far gone Patrick was from the early dose she had given him. He was singing to himself, snapping out a beat. The tubing from the IV swayed while he conducted himself. It was clear he was reacting oddly to the drug in comparison to his friends who had quieted from their screams to whimpers and the occasional staccato sob. However, as she looked to her siblings who were getting on with the feast she knew she would do well not to speak of it. Lakshmi did not want to give Radha or Kali reason to voice concern with Miss Jackson. Hell would be nothing in comparison if their mother knew the secret defiance Lakshmi still upheld. 

It was Radha who brought her back from her thoughts, dangerous ones to be entertaining, by asking her to undo the straps on her shirt. The straps across her back made it difficult to take it off quickly by herself. Now was the time for celebration not reticence but long-standing habit had left its mark and she hesitated to see her sister so unbound in both clothing and emotions. 

“You must not deny her now, not after so long,” kali admonished as she disrobed Radha herself. The retort upon Lakshmi’s lips leapt out before she could stop it. 

“Then why does Mother see fit to muzzle you with me?” Kali didn’t respond to the snipe instead focused with forcing wine onto Andy as she brought the cup to his resistant mouth. Lakshmi untied Patrick for he was no threat now after two doses of sedatives. 

It was becoming a struggle to be at peace with her sister’s viciousness. If she was truthful, this divide between them had been long in coming. Childhood had melded them together, softening the defects but teen years had relieved their true shapes. Not even the bond of twinhood could reconcile them now. She found comfort in seeing the the chemical bliss had softened the terror from the men’s faces. The way Radha was teasingly kissing Pete helped as well. 

\- - - 

It was one by one they fell unconscious, exhausted by the revel and panic that had been crammed into a mere five hours. Patrick was the first go, head tipped back against his high back chair and mouth open as he slept in this uncomfortable position. Lakshmi smiled and ruffled the dyed orange cocaine from Joe’s curly halo of hair. 

“Lakshmi, Radha it’s time to move them, they won’t be peaceful when they wake up.” Kali stated to which Lakshmi sighed and called to Radha that it was time to go. The woman in question did not seem to hear, settled in Pete’s lap as she was her forehead resting against his. It was clear her sister did not want to release him but a second sharper command from Kali had her sidling off. Her twin’s mood was not boosted when Lakshmi said that she would stay in the back of the van with the men. 

“I will be safe Kali.” She assured impulsively laying a hand on her twin’s cheek. No angry rebuttal sprang from her lips but it was obvious Kali was displeased as she watched Lakshmi crawl in after the last man was hoisted into the van. 

“You’re still a part of this family Lakshmi. You’re forgetting this,” Kali said. 

Lakshmi looked to the men, and it took Radha lightly touching Kali’s arm for her to close the door. 

Heat seared Lakshmi’s eyes but blinked it away. Sisters were supposed to dislike each other for annoying traits; Lakshmi towards Kali for her inferiority complex that caused her to be ruthless. Kali at Lakshmi for her divided loyalties with the business and wanting something more than constant blood and death on her hands. 

Lakshmi knew Kali felt neglected by their mother, possessive of any attention that was diverted from herself. Her twin felt that Lakshmi had fallen for Brendon on purpose, that she had struck up the relationship so as to play martyr when Miss Jackson inevitably removed him, even going so far as to think she _wanted_ to receive punishment. It tore at her to know that Kali would continue to believe this all the more fervently the more Lakshmi denied. She had tried to explain and failed, so she did not try to allay her twin’s suspicions anymore. 

A sputtering of the engine sounded before the ignition caught while she settled on the floor beside Patrick, sprawled out in unconsciousness. Tenderness warmed her as the men crowded around her in response to her call and touch. They were like blind kittens seeking out warmth no matter whom it came from. It took her mind off her sister when Patrick and Joe curled up at her sides; Pete lying between her legs his head pillowed on her thigh with Andy slumped against Joe. She herself did not know the plans for the Fun House only that it was their last stop before they were disposed of. Well all of them except Pete if Radha was able to persuade Miss Jackson. 

Although she had nothing to clean it with Lakshmi still attempted to take a look at Patrick’s unstitched wound, delicately unwinding the tumor-like mass of blood soaked gauze Patrick yelped, causing the others to stir uneasily in their sleep. 

“Ssh, ssh quiet sweetheart, quiet.” She crooned as she stroked his face. The words and motions were familiar enough to her by now. 

\- - - 

“Lakshmi wake up, we are here.” Radha’s voice sounded in her dreams though the jostling of her foot was what made Lakshmi struggle to sit up, weighed down on either side as she was by the men. She groaned as she scrubbed at her eyes, groggy and disoriented. What was it that had made her decide to ride with the targets? 

“Radha?” 

Radha looked at her with concern as she grabbed onto the plaid hoodie tied around Pete’s waist to drag him off. Lakshmi shrugged and squirmed her way out of Patrick and Joe’s arms flung over her waist and chest in sleep. As she stepped over Pete, she grasped Radha’s hands thankful to have the help down onto the ground. It felt like she herself had had a tiny dose of the barbiturates. 

“We’re here and Miss Jackson wants to talk with you.” In an instant the grogginess turned to needles pricking her skin. Her nerves must have been apparent for Radha told her to turn around so she could braid her hair again. She did as told soothed only a fraction as her sister’s fingers combed her hair into a resemblance of tameness. Off Lakshmi strode into the Fun House and through the dimly lit hallways, fallen into disuse she noticed, with the chipping paint and grubby floors hastily swept of dust and dirt for their arrival. 

No doubt, Kali had already told their mother all the details of the feast and Radha’s unrestrained enjoyment of it. Lakshmi detested her twin’s need to suck up to their mother. She herself had turned away from Miss Jackson and instead found a sister-mother in Radha. Despite her entrance through adoption Radha had allowed herself to be molded to suit this life of hired mercenary managing to be more of a sister to Lakshmi than Kali could bring herself to be. 

Despite cutting her emotional ties it did not mean Lakshmi could disobey a summons from her mother. And so it was she found Miss Jackson seated with Miss Love in the overgrown garden wild with flowers and weeds alike. As was custom she knelt head bowed so that she was looking at their feet. It was a ceremonial show entirely for Miss Love in order to show the sickly blonde that Miss Jackson’s daughters were willing to humble themselves before not only their mother but others as well. 

Lakshmi wondered as their voices flowed over her head if Kali had had to bow down too or if she had caught Miss Jackson alone in order to escape it. 

“Lakshmi.” Her mother’s clear voice had her looking up at them awaiting her question. She was surprised to see at close range that Miss Jackson had made a coronet of braids with her black locks a surprisingly delicate detail for her often undecorated mother. Despite the lack of adornments Miss Jackson was a beauty to behold. The picture of femininity some said though the same could not applied to her sharp tongue, “Kali tells me Radha _quite_ enjoyed the celebration and that you rode with the targets here. Do you care to explain why you did such a thing?” Her tone held thinly veiled disapproval and Lakshmi burned seeing Miss Love’s apparent interest. No doubt, Miss Jackson had invited the older woman for this reason. 

“I worried that the men might hurt one another in their drugged state I didn’t want us to lose them before they arrived.” A raised slender eyebrow told her that this was not a good enough answer. 

“It isn’t our concern whether they arrive damaged. I want to know is this going to become a repeat of Brendon?” Lakshmi felt her jaw tighten as she shook her head eyes not straying from her mother’s gaze. 

“It’s clear that you enjoy embarrassing me and because of it you will have the pleasure of telling Radha she is no longer with Pete nor may she keep him afterwards. As for you, you will work with her on Patrick. Kali will stand guard over the hallways instead,” Miss Jackson announced. A quick nod before Lakshmi rose to her feet and returned to the Fun House where she managed to catch Radha just as she passed in the hallway. Of course Kali who was with her stopped as well to hear what Miss Jackson had said. Lakshmi wished her twin had kept on but it would have riled Kali up if she tried to shoo her away. 

So it was she informed Radha of the change in plans. Pete went to Tara instead with Kali guarding the house and Radha helping her with Patrick. The smugness on her twin’s face irked Lakshmi though Kali seemed unbothered by the fact that Lakshmi was still to be with Patrick. A sense of foreboding crept over her at this for something had to be happening to allow her to escape with no foreseeable punishment. Radha’s mouth had gone thin and it was without a further word that she turned and strode away, Kali close behind. 

Their stilettos clicked ahead of Lakshmi as they strode down the dimly lit hallway covering up the sound of her bare feet that whispered against the linoleum. Lakshmi sighed as she went to see where the men’s rooms were located. Miss Jackson had taken away the privilege of choosing Patrick’s chamber from her. She had no clue where the other men had been placed. 

Joe’s room happened to be the first one she peeked into the small glass window in each door. He wore a paper white strait jacket his shaggy head of curls drooping towards his chest. She wondered idly what Magdalena’s children had in mind for him as she moved diagonally across the hall to find that Andy was close by and also still unconscious. 

_The sedatives were stronger than I thought_ , Lakshmi frowned. Moreover, it surprised her to see the room Andy was in was a dingy hole. A filthy matted shag rug had been thrown upon the cement floor while upon his head Magdalena had placed dull orange headphones. Camera trained on him as well. Lakshmi was puzzled at what the older woman had planned for him. She had never seen these toys of Magdalena’s before. However, these questions did not stop her for long before she continued to look for the last two men. 

It took a few turns and many empty rooms before she found Pete. No surprise there, Lakshmi knew Radha had picked this room in particular because of how separated it was from the others. Likely Tara would soon be jealously guarding him now that she had Pete in her grasp. Lakshmi herself was only two years older than Tara. She remembered when she use to want to impress their mother as well and how she had wanted to keep her targets all to herself. Now thanks to Miss Jackson’s displeasure with Radha Tara had the chance to do exactly that. 

When Lakshmi did manage to locate Pete she couldn’t help her surprised laughter as she gazed in on the unconscious man. Radha had truly outdone herself with decorating Pete’s room. 

Like the others he too sat slumped on a stool. The difference was that Pete’s seat stood in the middle of two long red carpets arranged in a cross. Nude mannequins gazed at him from behind red velvet ropes. The naked bulbs strung from the rafters made the best shadows for his face and the cameras hung around the mannequins necks testified his vaunted beauty. She could see why Radha chosen him; she a connoisseur of beauty and he the perfect specimen. 

Lakshmi smiled as she shook her head before she moved on. She was letting herself get distracted from finding Patrick. At the thought of the blond man, she was glad Kali would be preoccupied playing guard. If her twin was involved, she knew that Patrick would not live through another experience. Kali was too heavy handed and impatient to be able to draw out the delicate balancing of life and death. Begging exasperated her twin and too quickly she cut the thread of their lifeline. The sight of Radha as Lakshmi rounded a corner pulled her from her thoughts as she hurried to catch up to her sister knowing that Radha would lead her to Patrick. 

\-- 

Patrick had been placed in the punishment chair and Lakshmi struggled to control her urge to release him to let him attempt to flee from whatever had been planned for him. None of the men deserved this and she couldn’t understand why Miss Jackson continued to torture them. They were no longer useful so what was the point of keeping them? Once a target had been completely mined for information they were given to the Surgeons to be torn apart, every evidence of their life wiped away. This continued holding of the men was unsettling. 

Despite her inner turmoil she tried to be of comfort to her angered sister. 

“Radha you know Tara won’t kill Pete, unlike Kali her bloodlust overwhelms her too much,” Lakshmi soothed, though the older woman merely pursed her lips, still upset at the unexpected switch. 

“But Pete is _mine_.” Radha stated as she gazed down at Patrick, the tension in her lithe body akin to a tigress ready to pounce, “Just as Patrick is simply your replacement though he isn’t as willing as Brendon was,” she mused olive green eyes slipping over to her. Lakshmi kept her eyes on her hands as she started up the voltage. 

Patrick howled and thrashed as the electricity burned through his veins, sobbing and begging her to turn it off. It was difficult to harden herself against his agony, for Lakshmi had never quite mastered the callousness of heart needed when it came to pain. Terror she did not mind; it gave her a heady rush of power. But pain caused such animal reactions she wanted to do whatever it took to silence the sounds. 

In spite of that even Lakshmi had to admit that at times it all blended into a disturbing normalcy. The mangled corpses beneath her hands ceased to distress her. They were targets and even in their gruesome business became dull and unchanging. The knife bit into their skin, blood welled up and poured steadily out as they whimpered, begged, shrieked for mercy until they grew so very pale, silenced by the hush Death brought that could not be broken. 

“He is nothing of the sort. I want to keep Kali from destroying his beauty completely. She has marred him too much already. Besides, what of Pete? I’ve noticed you’ve become quite attached to him,” she replied looking over to her sister in question. Radha smirked as she carded her fingers through Patrick’s hair, now sweat soaked. In the light of the candles, Radha’s touching and looking was startlingly intimate. Lakshmi struggled to swallow her jealousy at this easiness with which her older sister put her hands on him while she herself had so little freedom unless to cause pain. 

“You mistake lust for love and there was only lust between us.” Lakshmi did not answer for she had now just noticed Patrick’s eyes. There was something wrong with them. They were liquid gold. Not at all, as they should have been. 

"Radha what is wrong with him? He -” But her words were silenced by the wail of an alarm. 

One of the men was loose. 

The two wasted no time in sprinting towards the siren’s origin. Without needing to be told, Radha loped down the hallway towards the rest of the men, the sharp _click - click - click_ of her stilettos marking her presence. It was only a moment’s thought but Lakshmi foolishly hoped it was Brendon who was loose, for the Surgeons wing was close to this one. Of course, they would keep him too weak and medicated to do something like this. They were not stupid. The Surgeons were too rigidly logical to do anything of the sort. 

A blood-curdling scream different in tone than before had her bolting back to Patrick, the washed out blue of the walls blurring past as she flew into the doorway to see Pete shove a hook over his friend’s stump of a hand, its short life of terror filling him. 

“Trick, what’s wrong with you?!” Pete sobbed hands bracketing his friend’s face before he let out a yelp and grunt from Lakshmi’s tackle. He popped her under the eye by pure luck and shoved her off in time for Radha to take her place. Lakshmi sat up in time to see Pete’s hands sink into her sister’s mane of hair but to her shock Radha in no way resisted him, simply sat on his hips, hands on either side of his head bent over from his grip on her. Even more startling, _frightening_ , was the trembling softness of her mouth and the wet gloss to her eyes as Pete wept beneath her. 

“Why Serafina? Why are you doing this?” He pleaded stroking his thumb through her heavy coated eyeliner trying to smudge it away, as if he could do the same for who she really was. The sound of her alias dried Radha’s eyes and steadied her lips. 

“That is not my name,” She hissed “It is _Radha_.” 

“Radha, Radha…” Pete murmured the tears trickling down into his ears giving only a whimper when she injected him with another barbiturate. At this rate, he would never be able to sleep on his own again, though from what Radha had told her Pete had struggled with insomnia his whole life. Lakshmi watched as her sister laid her forehead against his - she lied, this was more than just lust - before she was on her feet as Kali’s heels clicked into the room. Immediately her twin’s eyes took in Lakshmi, half sprawled on the floor, Pete unconscious and Radha blindfolding Patrick who growled and struggled against his restraints. 

“Lakshmi you are unharmed? Radha?” Kali asked offering her hands to her. 

“Yes we’re fine, he managed to get Lakshmi under the eye but a tranquilizer stopped him from doing anymore,” Radha answered carefully. 

“It would be good news if not for Tara.” Lakshmi looked wide-eyed at the rag doll sprawl of Pete on the floor. Kali nodded, the gold piercing in her nose and ears twinkling in the candlelight. “He slit Tara’s throat after she had let him out of his restraints.” 

_“No, no, no, _no_ ,” Lakshmi breathed as she ran her fingers over and over through her hair in an effort to keep herself from sinking back down onto the linoleum._

“I knew Tara couldn’t do it, I _told_ Miss Jackson. This is why _I_ was assigned to him,” Radha muttered, angrier in this moment than grief stricken as she continued to shake her head in disbelief. Lakshmi looked to her twin and for an instant thought she saw a trace of regret in Kali’s obsidian eyes before they cooled and she gave her orders. 

“Load up the men, I will call Miss Jackson to arrange Tara’s funeral.” 

“What do you mean load them? Where are we taking them _now_? I thought this was to be the final part of the reward,” Lakshmi couldn't help but demand. 

It was not any shock towards the fact that the men were going to die - she knew that was inevitable - it was at how much Miss Jackson and her sisters were drawing this all out for seemingly no purpose other than to be cruel. Lakshmi was used to brutality but there had always been reasons, purposes for it and now it seemed there was none. “Besides there’s something wrong with Patrick. His eyes aren’t right; they were the color of gold earlier just before the alarm sounded.” 

In return she received only silence from Kali and Radha as a significant look passed between them. Neither would inform her of why this transformation was occurring in him or for what that much was clear in an instant. Radha would not look at her at all and this bothered her most. No doubt, her twin had ordered her not to tell Lakshmi of what was to happen. She clenched her jaw hard enough to ache. She was old enough now to know she would get nowhere with questions and that punishment would be swift if she persisted. This knowledge did not make the bitter pill any easier to swallow. 

It was why when they had loaded the last of the men into the van once again that she gave her announcement. 

“I’m going to ride to the new place with them. I don’t want Patrick to accidentally kill one of the men before they arrive.” At this Lakshmi felt Radha’s hand upon her hair - it had come unraveled from its braid without her noticing - trying to calm her temper. But there was no hope for it. Her frustration had seethed for too long and she was in no mood to be compliant anymore no matter Kali or Miss Jackson’s wrath. 

“There’s no reason to, Lakshmi, he won’t hurt them without a cue from us they will be fine.” Radha murmured. Lakshmi shook her head, though she was careful not dislodge her sister’s hand. 

“I want to ride with them none the less.” 

“ _Lakshmi -”_

“You want to do this?” Kali inquired, cutting off Radha’s repeated appeal to reason as Kali held her hands out. Lakshmi nodded as she grasped her hands, surprised at the display of affection from her twin. Kali had decided such things as affection were displays unfit for her at a young age. The familiar shard of glass sensation in her neck as Kali clenched her hands told Lakshmi too late she had made the wrong decision. 

\- - - 

Radha caught her limp sister and with Kali lifted her into the van the men huddled in back a now groggy Pete included. However, while the other men rightly stared at her with terror Pete looked at them with puzzlement. It puzzled him why her sister was now being treated like a target instead of an equal but Radha would not tell him and Lakshmi would not understand until it was too late. Pete lifted his eyes from her sister to herself and Radha was unprepared for the sorrow. He asked without words why she had betrayed him, what they’d done to his closest friend, what was going to happen to them? Radha turned her eyes away from him as she shut the door. Those were questions he would never live to hear the answers to. 

\- - - 

“Lakshmi wake up, come on, wake _up_!” The words and her shoulder being roughly shaken made her groan as consciousness crept over her. Despite this the man’s voice did not turn gentle but now demanded that she open her eyes. Lakshmi, too woozy to disobey, rubbed her eyelids with her knuckles before she did so. 

She gaped, mute in her shock. 

“Brendon?” She choked out as she sat up reaching for him. With their arms around each other, his face against the side of her throat she could feel the heat of his tears. Solid and warm, he was in her grasp. They held one another for a long minute before she pulled back enough so that she could look at him again. 

Amazing to her was how _healthy_ he looked; as if it were only moments ago when he had been left lying on the Surgeons operating table. In fact, he was wearing the very outfit he had worn when he was taken from her. “Your clothes,” she pointed out, to which Brendon looked down at himself before he lifted his brows and shrugged his shoulders. No doubt, he had no choice regarding his clothes and as such, it did not matter to him. “How are you here? The Surgeons don’t give back patients.” Brendon’s full lips twisted in a wry smile. 

“I’m the first,” However, the amusement slipped away as he continued, “Lakshmi we need to run _now_ if we’re going to escape, I don’t know how soon the woman you picked will get here,” Brendon urged as he stood helping her up as well. 

“Mansa? How did you know she was bringing the men and how _did_ you get here?” He gave an irritated huff with this waste of time with explanations. 

“Your blond sister, Radha isn’t it? She brought us here in the same van as the guys - shoved them out at random places before she brought us here and told me to hide with you before she took off. She looked pretty edgy.” Lakshmi shook her head as she grasped his hands. 

“I can’t run away Brendon, not if Radha is close to helping us. She wouldn’t have let you be with me otherwise.” The statement drew an incredulous look from him as he shook off her hold. 

“What do you mean you’re not running away?! Lakshmi they’re going to _kill_ me at the end of this, they’re going to kill _everyone_! But that’s alright with you isn’t it? You’ll skip out of this fine while the rest of us get murdered,” Brendon hissed. 

How deep it wounded her to hear that. Similar words of malice had spewed from his mouth during the times when the Surgeons had allowed him to be almost unmedicated. Guiltily, Lakshmi had been glad when they had submerged him back under the deep waves of their drugs, quieting his rage and desperation. He was not thankful for how she had only just managed to keep him from dying at the Surgeons’ hands, as if the little she could do for him had been nothing at all. 

“Fuck you Brendon,” She managed to warble, “I’ve done everything I can, but I can’t leave my family right now. They will have me killed as well, and then who will help you? Besides Miss Jackson will not hurt you not while you are in the game.” 

“Because she expects me to be killed by the monster you turned Patrick into!” He bellowed as he threw up his arms, eyes wild. 

“You need trust me on this Brendon,” It was clear he wanted to continue to argue but the sounds of panicked voices and skittering footfalls disrupted them. Lakshmi paled, “Mansa should not be this early.” Brendon swore viciously, he could imagine what would happen if Patrick caught him in his rabid state. “Go hide, I will try and get the others,” she ordered before she slid from the closet, body tensed and ears straining to hear not only the men but Patrick as well. It was not difficult to locate the men, not with their shouting at one another but because of this Lakshmi could not tell where Patrick was. However, that would have to be a risk she took as her bare feet flew over the tiles towards them. 

In and out of unlit interconnecting hospital rooms she sprinted, dashing the pale mint bed curtains aside, she knew she was only just missing the men. A cry in the room beside her revealed it was Andy - a severe gash on his thigh that bubbled with the rubbing alcohol he had doused the wound with. It looked all the more gruesome under the harsh fluorescent lights, his blood a lurid color as the multitude of bruises stood out under his tattooed skin. He jumped at her sudden entrance before he scrambled backwards face twisting into a grimace of pain. 

“Get the fuck away from me!” He shouted whipping the half-full bottle and managing to splash her. 

“Be quiet!” She hissed eyes stinging from the disinfectant. “Patrick will find us if you don’t stop - ” She yelped as the crack of plastic upon her skull rang out. She crumpled to the floor hands interlocked over her head where Pete’s office phone had hit. A snarl from behind caused Pete to whirl around and cry out. 

“Trick!” before Patrick’s fist smashed into his jaw. The unexpected blow caused Pete to stagger backwards tripping over Lakshmi’s body and onto Andy who cried out shoving at him to get him off the jagged slash in his thigh. 

“Patrick stop!” Lakshmi ordered as she reached out for him trying to keep him from going after them and indeed he came towards her but in an instant she saw it was not because of her command not with his irises golden like that. Too late she tried to draw back from him but he yanked her to her feet hook pressed to the side of her throat. 

“Where is your love now?” He sneered as he forced her to start walking. She could hear the sound of Pete’s footsteps following behind. Jumpy but determined to keep after them. Even the snarls and few lunges of Patrick kept him at bay by only a few feet. Patrick’s hook dug into her skin and she hoped Pete would not do anything reckless. Patrick’s rising frustration with this unexpected hanger-on translated into the pressure he applied to her throat. 

It seemed they detached themselves from the shadows before she realized Magdalena’s children stood in the doorways armed with their homemade weapons. Pete’s footsteps faltered as he too caught sight of them before the sound of his slapping feet told of his fleeing. Lakshmi did not scorn him in the least. Ruthless monsters they could be on their own. 

Without Pete, Patrick pushed her to an almost speed walk down hallways and through rooms before he stopped outside an operating theater. Her feet would not move, the breath squashed from her lungs at the sight of the plaque by the door. He was going to give her to the Surgeons! _Oh God, a living death he was sending her to!_

“Patrick -” Lakshmi’s plea was clipped off by Patrick’s fist to her jaw as she collapsed, her legs unresponsive in the face of what awaited beyond the door. 

Her terror did not stop Patrick, for he he was upon her in an instant, his hook sunk into her braid as he rained down furious punches. The starbursts of pain revived her enough that Lakshmi thrashed, but he had pinned her arms beneath his knees and with the way he had her hair she was defenseless against his abuse. 

She sobbed as she struggled and screamed from Patrick’s hook that now was ripping apart the skin on her left shoulder and arm. How could he have become such a twisted monstrosity? He was never supposed to have become this puppet for them. After the feast, they were all supposed to be disposed of, bodies and minds too blissed to feel the terror of death at the end. 

All of the men, excluding Brendon, were only meant as a reward - not to become prey for each other. Lakshmi went slack, letting Patrick’s blows fall where they would. She realized how and why everything had all gone so wrong. 

Miss Jackson had discovered that Lakshmi had continued to defy her punishment by caring, not for Brendon, but for other targets instead. And, by extension, she had revolted against the ultimate authority of her life. Miss Jackson was crushing her into nothing to gain Lakshmi back. 

She would not have noticed Patrick’s changing back to human if not for the fact that his fist was no longer pulverizing her face, his hook not straining every hair on her head from its tangled nest in her braid. She watched the brilliant sunflower yellow fade from his irises. The bloodlust that had howled for her life was replaced with dumbfounded horror at what he saw from his seat on her waist. 

“What did I do to you?” He whimpered hysteria creeping into his eyes at the sight of the blood soaking the front of her sarong and the floor beneath her. The wail of ambulances and police sirens sliced through the air. 

“Nothing close to what we’ve done to you,” she panted, noting the cold sweat that was creeping over her from the blood loss. She’d rather die of exsanguination then ever be put under the hands of the Surgeons. The ring of commanding tones and clomping footfalls that filled the building made Patrick pale to a sickly shade. 

“I - I killed Joe. Oh god, I _murdered_ him,” he sobbed. Lakshmi did not know how to tell him that the tamed monster he had become was her fault. Joe’s blood was on her hands. The SWAT team that flooded the room ordered their hands up, preventing her from having to do so. A guilty relief that she did not have to confess to him now that it was her fault for defying her mother that had caused him and his friends this agonizing hell. 

\--- 

Lakshmi’s own torture arrived when she realized that amongst the squad she knew Miss Jackson had sent were Surgeons disguised. The false men of justice removed Patrick from the room as the Surgeons closed in on her. Their fingers tested the depth of her wounds, cleaned them, pinched closed the ragged flesh before, too quick not to be planned, a needle winked in the sudden sterile bright light that was being held aloft. This had been accounted for, everything down to Patrick tearing her up. 

_God no, she was being given to them_. They gave her no time to fight, for they pinned her legs and arms down in an instant to keep her still. 

“Ssh, ssh.” A woman soothed as she held open first Lakshmi’s left eyelid and then the right to pour a bit of water in them. “Be still for me.” She murmured as she began to stitch the wound up. Lakshmi stared at her round face, barely able to breath, focused on the grey eyes that looked only on the needle. The perfect color for her profession. Lakshmi’s legs sagged beneath her when the Surgeons parading as officers hauled her to her feet handcuffs around her wrists. 

“None of that now.” This came from the grey eyed woman now standing behind her, “You’re going home, not with us. Miss Jackson still has need of you.” Lakshmi stumbled between the two officers who held her arms as they led her out of the building, her legs still refusing to cooperate. She was not being given to the Surgeons. 

\---- 

In the unmarked police cruiser - apart from Andy and Pete - she was not surprised to see Patrick was with her. Miss Jackson’s bet that no anyone would believe Andy and Pete’s wild stories about women kidnapping and torturing them would keep the family safe. 

_Tara’s funeral_ Lakshmi recalled with a pang to her conscience. The thought of it had disappeared completely in the face of her punishment. No doubt it was having to pay her last respects to her sister that kept her alive. After that she was unsure what Miss Jackson would decide to do with her. 

Perhaps she would be forced to watch Patrick slaughter the last two of his friends. Or as her mother had demonstrated, Lakshmi could end up in the game as well without the protection of her sisters. Her eyes stung - just for once she wished she did not suffer under her mother’s hand. Was this slow killing off of the men not enough for Miss Jackson? If not for Patrick’s touch on her arm the tears might have found their way out. As it was, Lakshmi looked to him and thought, how could she cry in comparison to Patrick, who had been ripped apart by their experiments? 

“Who are you?” He asked, brows furrowed as he struggled to make out her features in the gathering dusk. His glasses, she remembered. They had been broken at some point in one struggle or another, likely she was no more than a female with fuzzy features to him. “I mean I’ve seen your face but I don’t know your name. I remember your long hair. Every time you got close I wanted to yank at it.” 

The words made her give a small laugh. She deserved far more than that from him. The debt she owed could never repay for what she had allowed to happen. Such a sweet face he had, despite the monster it concealed. 

“Lakshmi. I took care of you when my sisters were gone.” His eyebrows shot up as he gaped at her. 

“Your - _sisters_? You mean this like a - a family business?” She nodded, eyes flickering to the front as Miss Jackson’s men got in and started the car up. “Why did you kidnap us?” Patrick pushed. She rolled her head away so that she was not looking at the frightened, blood coated man. It was easier to talk when she didn’t have to look at her handiwork. 

“The suitcase you carried made you a target in my mother’s eyes. Your friends did nothing other than catch my sisters’ interest, they were meant as rewards,” she answered, mouth pinched at the truth that issued forth. 

Patrick gaped. 

“What the hell do you mean _rewards_? How do you people exist? How has the government not found you when people go missing?” He exclaimed making the pseudo police officers turn their heads slightly in their direction. Lakshmi cut her glance at them before she beckoned Patrick over with a tilt of her head. He hesitated, working against his conditioned revulsion of her, before he edged over until they were thigh to thigh with one another. She laid her head upon his stiff shoulder and quietly explained to him the workings of the family, how they managed to stay hidden along with the role the Surgeons played in all of this and Brendon’s captivity with them the past year. The last bit of news seemed to be the piece that completely winded Patrick. Tears dripped down onto her cheek. 

“Brendon? Brendon Urie? Oh Jesus.” A sharp sob escaped him before he covered his mouth barely muffling his crying shoulders trembling. “We thought Brendon would turn up dead one day when - when we heard he went missing. Pete - ,” He stopped trying to breath deep to keep from breaking down completely, “ - Pete was devastated when he heard that Brendon had just disappeared. He went frantic, looking and asking for help from anyone and everyone.” The little color that had come back to Patrick’s face soured. “Oh god please, _please_ tell me he isn’t...Brendon’s not a monster?” Lakshmi shook her head. 

“He was with me in the hospital I told him to hide when we heard you coming.” She could feel the miniscule unclenching of his muscles. 

“Why...why would you ever stay here? You’re _killing people_.” 

“You see in such black and white. I never had a choice; this kind of life was the only one I knew. I was born to be of use for Miss Jackson. I don’t have any formal schooling nor was I born in a hospital so I do not register in any databases. I don’t exist.” 

“But you had to know instinctively the pain and terror you were putting these people through!” Patrick’s voice again rose but Lakshmi kept her head on his shoulder silently wishing him to quiet down. She didn’t need their jailors telling Miss Jackson how upset Patrick was when speaking with her. She turned her face into his neck and though his muscles coiled tight as rubber bands, he held himself still. How well trained Patrick was becoming in tolerating what he hated. 

\---- 

Lakshmi was curled up on the thin mattress atop the concrete slab that served as her bed, exhaustion settling in after for so long. 

Patrick had wanted to keep questioning her, repeatedly asking _why_? Why for everything that they had done to him. She had stayed silent from where she lay two cells away, heavy eyelids sliding closed as Patrick’s voice quieted and eventually went silent too. He was not satisfied with what she had told him but Lakshmi did not care to elaborate anymore than she already had. He would need to make peace with what she had given him. Miss Jackson would not give Patrick the time to think deeply on the matter anyways. 

\--- 

Not enough time passed before the sound of high heels punctured the fitful sleep she had just managed to fall into. Lakshmi sat up at the sound, grogginess fogging her head. She hoped it was not Kali. Her twin would be able to tell she had been sleeping and report this lax behavior to their mother. But truly, what more could Miss Jackson do to her, she thought wearily. Just as she stood up, uselessly trying to untangle her blood soaked hair, Radha appeared in front of her cell. Relief made her almost sink back onto the mattress as she gave her older sister a small weak smile. This was not the first time Radha had fetched her from a jail cell but none of them had ever before represented Miss Jackson’s wrath as this one did. 

“Miss Jackson wants the men at the funeral,” Radha stated without preamble, taking Lakshmi aback. For a moment, all she could do was blink before she was at the bars, hands wrapped around them, knuckles clenched milk white at the thought that stung her. Just as easily as the men had been rewards now their lives would become tributes to Tara in exchange for what Pete had taken from her. 

“What does she mean to do with them?” She demanded though Radha only shrugged her shoulders, sun white hair rising and falling with the motion as she unlocked the cell and opened the door. Lakshmi bit at her lip as she followed her sister towards Patrick’s. 

Of course, he fought against them, shouting and begging that he didn’t want to kill anymore of his friends - that he deserved to be in a cage. 

“Be quiet!” Lakshmi snarled, frustration turning her touch to claws on his arm and back as she and Radha drug him from his cell. In this moment, she could not stand this constant refusal to do even the simplest of tasks. She could save none of them and this reminder upset her. He quieted in the face of her sudden anger, frightened at this change in her gentle behavior. Lakshmi didn’t catch the side long glance her olive eyed sister sent her. 

\---- 

Tara’s funeral would be at the Fun House where they had first brought the men for feasting since it was the place every fallen sister was taken to. The Surgeons’ wing close at hand made it the logical final resting place they disappeared completely. None of their sisters met Lakshmi, Radha, and Patrick when the police cruiser stopped in front of the Fun House. It signaled loud and clear what place Lakshmi now held in the family. 

“Careful, Miss Jackson might decide to make Pete a monster like Patrick,” Lakshmi muttered as she let Radha help her out of the car, her sister’s firm arm wrapped around her waist. Radha’s lips tightened, but she said nothing in response. She knew how to read her sister, knew the cruel jab had found Radha’s hidden fear. Lakshmi watched as Miss Love’s women encircled the now uncuffed but still human Patrick. The pleading look in his eyes he sent her communicated his fright. He looked to her to protect him. She turned her gaze away. From the beginning she had never had a chance at doing so Lakshmi couldn’t lie to Patrick anymore. 

Radha followed behind Miss Love’s women, breaking off to enter an unused bedroom that served as one of the many dressing rooms for the funeral. 

“Why did you help Brendon?”  
Radha turned her olive green eyes from the mourning dresses laid out on the bed to Lakshmi who sat beside them. 

“I did not help you,” Radha gestured to the still angry stitches in her shoulder. Lakshmi shook her head. 

“You kept Brendon with me instead of giving him to Mansa. You disobeyed Miss Jackson.” 

Radha turned away to the vanity mirror to remove her eye makeup without answering. 

“ _Why?_ ” Lakshmi begged as she moved to stand beside her sister who continued to wipe away the darkness around her eyes. 

“Because you are not alone in being tired of this life. Just as you did I’ve found someone worth ending all of this for,” Radha’s gaze in the mirror slid over to Lakshmi’s, “Get ready.” 

\--- 

The sight of Brendon standing amongst her sisters in one of the two trailing lines leading from Tara’s body towards the door made her knees want to give out. He was not dead, something to be thankful for, but nor had he escaped as she had hoped the pandemonium would allow him to do. Perhaps he had thought the police would be his rescuers not realizing the extent to which Miss Jackson controlled this game, which was to say to its very roots. There would be no escape unless her mother willed it and even that would have only added a few days. 

She moved into the space on his left side, shocked when Brendon held her hand. Lakshmi looked sharply at him. While they both were condemned to die by the end it didn’t mean their deaths would be quick. Such an obvious gesture guaranteed torture. What she did not expect to see was the trembling smile on his generous mouth incongruously matched with his pained eyes. 

“Looks like I get to live a little longer.” He murmured and before he could continue her mother spoke up, announcing that before they started the mourning what she needed was a renewing of loyalty. Not from her daughters alone but from Pete, Andy and Brendon as well. 

There was no need to ask it of Patrick. He had no choice in the matter. 

Lakshmi watched as each of her sisters kneeled before their mother reaffirming their vows, and though it was only ceremonial, it allowed Miss Jackson to extract stronger ties of obedience and duty from them. After each sister had renewed her ties they removed themselves from the room their rigidly contained emotions collapsing as they left, dissolving into stifled whimpers and copious tears. Death was a given in their lives but that did not diminish the pain that accompanied the loss of a sister. It was why Patrick - now a puppet for Death - was outside of the room. Even Miss Jackson did not want to see the monster. 

Brendon was the first of the men to kneel down before Miss Jackson and kiss her ring, forfeiting himself to her completely. The ugliness inside of Lakshmi howled as she and Radha, the last of her sisters, stood witness. Here he was _willingly_ giving up his life without even the redemption of being driven to suicide. A tiny piece of her tried to reason that she’d not been subjected to the Surgeons as he had. Never had she endured the physical experimentation he had gone through. Her mind well - she sneered at Brendon’s back knowing Miss Jackson saw the expression - that was a different matter. 

It wasn’t until Pete, the last of the men, went forth and knelt down did her mother deign look to her. Lakshmi’s face burned at the significance of her mother’s gaze. She pressed her lips into a thin line as she strode up to Miss Jackson and knelt on Pete’s right side. It humiliated her to be put on the same level as their once targets. 

A sudden snarl and a shrill scream cut short outside the door snapped all of them to attention. 

“Miss Jackson!” Radha cried out as she jerked their mother away from the wild dive Pete had made towards her while her attention was distracted by the chaos outside the closed doors. 

Before their mother could lash out Pete’s arm cinched her in a headlock as Radha clenched her hands. An ugly grimace contorted Pete’s face as he drug his concealed knife across Miss Jackson’s throat, her eyes wide in shocked terror as it became clear her not one but two daughters had betrayed her. 

Lakshmi couldn’t even stand from her kneeling position from the horror of watching while her mother gasped and began to choke on her blood as her body instinctively convulsed to draw in air. Pete held onto Miss Jackson until she had gone so still that they knew the life had drained out of her. He looked to Lakshmi, a familiar blankness filming over his dark brown eyes, and she recognized the look. It was the one that came after the first kill. He said nothing as he laid Miss Jackson carefully down. Lakshmi, along with Radha knelt down on either side of her, unminding of her blood. 

She swallowed, blinking rapidly but this time her tears spilled forth. They poured down her cheeks, sobs spilling out that pitched into wails as she bowed over their mother and pressed her forehead against Miss Jackson’s shoulder. Freedom at the price of their mother’s life. At the sound of the doors opening behind her Lakshmi knew her twin and sisters lives as well. She heard the rustle and settle of Kali’s body placed beside Miss Jackson. Never had she wanted their lives in payment but just as before she had no choice in the matter. 

The intensity of her sorrow left her wrung out and frail. She settled back on her haunches to see Pete besides Radha her hands over her face while Pete stared vacantly at the two bodies before him. He would come back to himself and Lakshmi knew that Radha would help to ease the burden of murder for him as well as Patrick. It took a moment before she noticed Pete and Andy on either side of Patrick were holding his hands. Tremors were running through his body. Patrick was blood soaked and the silence outside the doors told of what he had done. Lakshmi’s eyes welled again with tears as she realized what the slaughter had cost him, who it must have reminded him of. No doubt, the carnage out there would be far more brutal than the death Pete had given Miss Jackson, but Lakshmi had no energy to rise. 

Footsteps coming towards her said it was Brendon as he too settled on the floor at her right side, his hand on her head for a moment’s comfort. How was it that this man she had sent through hell, as good as experimented on him with her own hands, was able to find it within himself to comfort her? It shamed Lakshmi to know in his place that she would not have been able to find any kindness in her heart for her captors not even after the slaughter of almost their entire family. 

Moreover, here she and Radha were, dwindled from bursting at the seams from all their sisters, to having only one another. 

“Did you love her?” Brendon asked looking at her rather than the gruesome corpses of her mother and twin. Lakshmi glanced at the bodies, neither of their expressions showed contentment with death, before she began to comb her hair with her fingers soothed by the childhood habit. No more disapproving looks for it and the thought made the tears start to trickle again. 

“In moments in time,” she murmured as the tears continued to flow, “I believe for us that was all we would ever have. Only moments of love and happiness with another.” Lakshmi swallowed against her tight throat to look back at Brendon who was staring at her intently. Perhaps he was confounded by the idea that she had _any_ sort of positive feelings for them. 

“What are you going to do? How are you going to live without all of this?” He instead asked, looking at the room that was once Miss Love’s workshop of destruction. Before the white-hot panic could sizzle through her, Radha spoke up. 

“She will live with us,” Radha answered. Just as Patrick had no choice in the matter of his ties towards the family it applied to the men here in this moment. They would without question stay with her. Andy, Pete and Patrick were too beaten down to protest their absence of acceptance. “And what of you? Where will you go?” 

The question was meant to bite. Even amidst her grief Radha would tie up any loose ends in order to keep them safe. At the question Brendon’s carefully kept composure wobbled. 

“I - I don’t know. What am I going to _do_? My music, my _life’s_ gone,” He said face ashen. Brendon wasn’t stupid. Not after all the time he had spent amongst them. He had just witnessed what Radha had been willing to do to escape from Miss Jackson. There was no possibility of him ever revealing what had happened to any of them and staying alive afterwards. Radha looked to the other three who nodded at her silent words. 

“If you can stand to live with us after all that we’ve done to you we would welcome you,” She offered him. Brendon was quiet, dark eyes unfocused within his pale face lips pressed tight as he turned over the thought. 

It seemed they were even for once. None of them had anything left of their previous lives. A moment's hesitation before she reached out and rested her hand over Brendon’s. The touch seemed to be a deciding point for he nodded that he would come with them. But how defeated he looked, the lines of stress pressed heavily into his youthful face. Lakshmi hated the fact that he had little choice but to stay with them. She had wanted to save them, but had not thought about what it would be like for them to try and re-enter normal life again. 

No, that was not completely true. His choice was to stay with them rather than to wade back into the world he had once known try to explain his year long disappearance without exacting Radha’s wrath. It was easier though, she could not say, if it would be better for him to stay with them. 

For Patrick it would be his guilt and horror of the blood on his hands weighing in. Likely, he felt he was a ticking time bomb if he was away from either herself or Radha, terrified of them forcing him to revert to the monster within. And Pete - well it was clear that his attachment to Radha was too deep for him to consider leaving her. She wondered if it was truly love or just Stockholm syndrome that he felt for her sister. What was clear was the protective love Radha felt for him and had so successively hidden until now. Andy well she was not sure with him besides not getting killed. He didn’t seem as distraught by his killing as Patrick was. No doubt he thought her sisters deserved what they got. 

Brendon’s hand around hers brought Lakshmi back from her thoughts to see that Pete, Patrick, Andy and Radha were getting to their feet. Lakshmi allowed Brendon to help her up, relieved when he kept a hold of her just as Pete did with Radha and Patrick. 

It seemed each of them had a hold of their demons. 

**Author's Note:**

> Miss Jackson and the Surgeons come from P!ATD's music videos "Miss Jackson" and "This is Gospel"
> 
> The inspiration for this was first and foremost Fall Out Boy's "The Young Blood Chronicles" music videos. Close on their heels was P!ATD at the time new album which created further sparks for this fic. Both "Save Rock N' Roll" and "Too Weird to Live, Too Rate to Die!" albums were my playlist while I wrote this. "All Around Me" by Flyleaf I consider Lakshmi's song to Brendon. "Far Too Young to Die" by P!ATD is Brendon's to Lakshmi. 
> 
> My beta Abby was wonderful to me and helped edit this in such a timely manner. Without her likely it would have sat in my google drive for another two year and a half years.


End file.
